President's Initiative Reports Successful First Year

Initial-year giving triples previous year's level

8/16/2012

The President's Initiative for Excellence, Stevens President Nariman Farvardin's signature $30 million effort to build faculty, scholarship support, physical infrastructure and public lecture programming, reported a successful first year on June 30, the close of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Stevens' Office of Development announced that it raised more than $13.7 million toward the Initiative from alumni and friends during the effort's inaugural year — nearly triple the previous year's giving, and substantially more than the University's stated $8 million fundraising goal for the period.

That total included five gifts of $1 million or more.

"We are extremely pleased and very thankful for the alumni support that we have received for The President's Initiative for Excellence," said Stevens Vice President for Development Ed Eichhorn '69. "Leadership gifts like these provide very positive and immediate impact on our community, and create a strong motivation for all of us to come together to support this important effort for Stevens."

Of the more than 4,000 total contributions received in FY 2012 toward The President's Initiative, approximately $4 million was specifically given to fund scholarships — the University's current greatest area of need, Eichhorn noted — while nearly $2 million was given to faculty development and approximately $1 million toward infrastructure and other capital projects.

Giving fell into a variety of categories, reflecting the diversity of Farvardin's top funding priorities.

University-wide, gifts to more than 225 funds and purposes ranged from a substantial gift for athletics infrastructure and improvements from Vice President of Facilities and Community Relations Hank Dobbelaar; a number of newly created scholarships that will enable Stevens to attract and retain increasing numbers of the highest-caliber students, both nationally and globally; and a $1 million commitment from Chairman of the Board of Trustees Larry Babbio '66 that encourages and rewards greater giving participation from targeted groups of alumni.

In addition, $50,000 was raised to fund the President's Lecture Series, which will begin presenting public talks on the Stevens campus during the 2012-2013 academic year. Smaller gifts will support such diverse recipients as the Stevens Dramatic Society and a green energy review of campus operations.